bananas

Living in Japan can sometimes feel like Alice in Wonderland; often you get to see something ludicrous that you would never see back home. Everyone's probably heard a few of these exaggerated stories. Allow me to share my own.

When I'm out and about (in my skinny jeans) I have flawless gaijin camouflage. If I wanted to, no one would guess that I've never lived in Japan. It's a fun game to play when I'm hanging out with the other international students. Sometimes a normal student would look at me, then look at me some more, then approach me and ask me if I was Japanese. I would reply "yes" and maybe even strike up a conversation in Japanese. Then I would start talking to the other international students in English like nothing happened. They'll just continue to look at me as if I'm wearing a big penis costume. They just don't know what to ask. People like me don't really exist in Japan, and so they just can't grasp their heads around my existence.

I'm a banana in japana.